


That SOB broke my hand!

by M_Mary93



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Arm Sling, First Aid, GSW, Hurt, Hurt Jack, Hurt Mac, Hurt!Jack, Hurt!Mac, Hurt/Comfort, Wounded, field doctoring, fracture, sling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-12 22:11:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9092743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Mary93/pseuds/M_Mary93
Summary: On a routine mission, things take a turn for the worse for Jack. He re-fractures his arm, dislocates it, and as if that wasn't bad enough... He manages to get shot too.Things are looking really bad for our man for a little while.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You know how our man Jack always punches bad guys? It looks like it hurts sometimes, right? And it has to go wrong sometimes? He probably hurt himself sometimes.

 

 

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Mac cast a glance over his shoulder to see Jack fighting the biggest guy. He just had to check every now and then to make sure he wouldn’t get hit in the back of his head all of the sudden if Jack went down. Not that he really feared for that, but it was a precaution.

He switched his focus back on his own opponent. Ducking as the man’s fist flew towards his temple, then yanking one of the man’s legs out from under him. The guy went down, but didn’t stay there.

From behind him he first heard a sharp smack, then he heard a yelp, and then a dull thud. Mac didn’t have time to check on what had happened just yet.

His own opponent kicked out and hit him square in the stomach. Mac lost his breath, and struggled to get in a good move himself. Finally he managed to connect his boot to the man’s head. If this guy didn’t wake up again, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to ever happen…   
The guy went motionless.

Mac heaved after air, his lungs were burning. When his ears stopped ringing with adrenalin and high pulse, he heard someone growling behind him. So he turned.

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Jack’s fist connected hard to the man’s forehead. He had been aiming for the man’s temple. He felt the bones collapse immediately and he cried out in shock, and went for a head-butt at once. Before he felt any pain. The bigger man went down in a heap, and then the pain made its stellar entrance.

His hand flared up, millions of needles digging into the limb at once. Each and every one heated over fire until they here red-hot. He growled. He knew he should get back up and help Mac take care of the other guy, but it was like the pain in his hand short circuited the rest of his system.

He looked down at the limb. His hand was already starting to bruise, the distance from his wrist to his index- and middle finger seemed a bit shorter than usual.

_Not again…?_

He tried straightening his fingers, only to find that he couldn’t.

Like from a far distance, he noticed that all the other noise in the room died away. He wasn’t sure whether that meant trouble, or if that meant that Mac had won his fight. He didn’t look up, he just bent over and tucked his injured arm close.

“Are you hurt?” a familiar voice spoke right beside him.

Jack nodded.

“What happened?”

“Son of a bitch, broke my hand!” Jack answered breathlessly.

Mac frowned, he sure didn’t the amount of pain Jack seemed to be in.

“Or, I broke my hand on his skull…” he corrected.

“Is it bad?”

“Heck yeah, it’s bad!” Jack hissed, “Hurts like hell!”

“Can I see?”

Jack realized he was still pressing his arm tight to his torso, and released the grip slowly. The poor hand was throbbing like crazy.

“That doesn’t look good…”

“No need to tell me Mac!”

“Sorry!”

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MacGyver grimaced when he odd way Jack’s hand was formed.

“Let me see your other hand too…”

“But… That’s not hurt…”

“Exactly… It’s for reference!” Mac looked him in the eyes.

Jack offered his good hand too. Mac looked and turned the hands in his own. Jack inhaled sharply as something in his hand jarred.

“Sorry.”

Jack grunted and was about to pull his hands away from Mac. “Mac, it hurts…”

“I’m sorry…” Mac muttered and looked up at Jack again. “It’s definitely broken.”

“I could have told you that!” Jack hissed.

Mac smiled nervously, and studied the hand a bit more.

“I could make you a splint. It’ll keep the fractures still, fractures hurt worse when the nerves around the bone gets irritated.”

“I don’t need a lecture Mac!”

“Look, this doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to use your arm. So let me do the fighting from now on…”

“Okay, I guess…” Jack grimaced as his hand flared up.

Mac let go of Jack’s good hand, and used both hands to maneuver the injured hand.

“Where is the pain?”

Jack stared back at him like it was a dumb question.

“Is it just leading out to those two fingers, or is the pain in your wrist? Forearm?”

Jack cleared his throat and looked away, “All of the above…”

“Forearm too?”

Jack nodded.

“Where?”

Jack pointed to a spot three inches above his wrist where the arm had started to discolor and swell.

“I thought you said you hit the guy…”

“Well, I did!”

“Then how do you break your forearm?” Mac shook his head as he started searching for fitting material to use for a splint. “The metacarpals and wrist, I get… But the forearm?”

Jack frowned and looked away.

“Jack…?”

“Look,” Jack sighed and set his eyes on Mac again, “I might or might not have had a fracture there before. I didn’t need a cast, and you were sick anyway it was easy to keep it at rest… It stopped hurting, and I thought it was okay…”

MacGyver couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his buddy.

“You should have told me that!”

Jack visibly flinched before he nodded.

“Yeah, I should have…”

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Less than five minutes later, Jack’s injured arm was immobilized by two legs off an old chair and ripped fabric from an old coverall.


	2. It only gets worse

Jack bit down on the inside of his cheek. His arm throbbed.

“Mac, does this thing really need to go above my elbow?” Jack eyed the makeshift splint.

“It should.” Mac answered, focusing on trying to pick the lock on the door in front of him.

“Why?”

“Because, splints should extend past the joints above and below the injured bone.”

“Last time I broke my forearm, the cast didn’t go past my elbow!”

“Yeah, well… Casts secure your arm a bit better than a splint.” Mac turned around to look at Jack.

Jack shrugged and nodded.

“Finally!” Mac grinned, and opened the door slightly. Just as soon as he was positive that there were no one in the next room, he entered and waved Jack after him.

A couple of rooms later, Mac was surprised by a steel pipe to the back of his head.

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“Oh crap…” Jack stared wide-eyed at Mac’ unconscious form. Then he realized there was a reason his friend had fallen unconscious, and that reason was armed with a two inch steel pipe and batter skills.

Jack himself on the other hand, had one working hand…

He ducked and rolled just in time to avoid getting hit by the pipe. But the splint on his arm wasn’t exactly fit for fighting, and it caught as he rolled over the limb.

He cried out, his arm was torturing him. But he didn’t have a choice, he had to keep fighting. He had to win.

A boot connected with his ribs on the right side. He sure was going to have to deal with that for a couple of weeks ahead.

He hit the man square on the jaw, but it seemed to have little effect. The same could not be said for when the guy with the steel pipe grabbed a hold of Jack’s right arm. The injured one. His legs collapsed under him when the pain hit.

The man grabbed a better hold once he realized that it caused Jack a great deal of pain. He pulled hard enough to hear a pop, then he thrusted the elbow over his knee like someone would break off branches for kindling.

Jack screamed from the top of his lungs, but there were no one to help him. There was only pain. White hot, blinding pain.

The man still held a grip around Jack’s wrist. Controlling him

From the corner of his eye, he could see that Mac still was out cold. So if someone was to save them, it was himself. No matter how painful that task might be.

With his good hand, he grabbed a hold of the man’s right wrist. He growled as he spun around and wrapped the man’s right arm and his neck in a lock with his legs. Once he secured his grip on the man’s wrist, he straightened his legs to choke the man. Then he used his weight to make the man lose his balance. When they both were on the ground, Jack pulled the man’s hand towards his own chest. He didn’t stop before he heard a loud pop from his opponent’s elbow, same kind of sickening noise his own had mad when it had been snapped backwards over the guy’s knee.

The man cried out in pain, and reached for his elbow with his still uninjured arm. Jack used the time to dig his heel into the man’s head, twice. The man went limp. Jack released his grip.

He gave himself the right to dig into his pain for a couple of seconds before he got up to check on Mac.

“Thought you said you would do all the fighting…” he muttered as he checked Mac’s neck.

The younger agent started waking up slowly… His eyes fluttering like crazy.

“You okay?” was the first words out of Mac’s mouth when he started to realize where he was.

“A lot better now that you’re awake…” Jack admitted and pulled a sharp breath as his arm seized up on him.

“What happened?”

“Sleepy guy over there knocked a pipe over the back of your head…” Jack explained. “Does your neck hurt?”

Mac shook his head, “No. But my head aches…”

Jack nodded. “Okay, ready to get going?”

Mac nodded and pushed himself off the ground.

“Did he hurt you?” Mac asked when he saw the way Jack now protected his arm.

Jack grimaced as he looked down the length of his arm, trying to figure out if he really needed to tell everything.

“Yeah, he did…”

“Bad?”

Jack stayed silent.

“Okay, bad…” Mac frowned as he stepped closer. Reaching towards Jack’s right arm.

Jack pulled away, cussing as his injuries spoke up louder.

“Jack… Let me see…”

“Please don’t touch me…” Jack looked up with pleading eyes.

“That bad?”

Jack winced, looked down at his injured arm again and nodded.

“Ripped out my shoulder and broke my elbow.”

“Can you still feel your hand?”

“Damn right I can still feel my hand. Still hurts like hell!”

Mac eyed Jack’s arm for a moment, before he walked over to the unconscious man Jack had fought moments earlier. Then he flipped the man over, and started unbuttoning his shirt.

“Look, I really don’t want a knocked out strip tease from that dude…”

Mac rolled his eyes and continued to take the shirt off the blacked out man.

“Got to secure your arm, okay?” Mac said as he pulled the shirt off the man’s arms. “His shirt will do just fine.”

Mac took out his pocketknife and cut off a three-inch strip from the bottom end of the shirt.

“Sit down…” Mac nodded towards a chair nearby, and Jack stepped over to it.

“You know I’m gonna have to move your arm, don’t you?”

Jack nodded reluctantly. “Ain’t looking forward to it, though…”

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“AI AI AIAIAI!” Jack cried out as MacGyver guided his injured arm into a better position. The arm seemed to jump the last four inches, and Mac felt sick to his stomach. Jack simply doubled over and threw up.

“Sorry.”

“Lord Almighty!” Jack gasped once he stopped heaving, “That fucking hurt, Mac!”

Mac nodded. He held the injured arm in place with one hand, as he used his other hand to lift the lowest sleeve up to the one already around Jack’s neck.

“Hold your arm…” he instructed, and waited for Jack to take action.

Jack grimaced as he grabbed his arm. Mac proceeded to tie the sleeves of the shirt together.

“Right height?”

Jack nodded. His breath was labored, he was in pain.

“Good…” Mac nodded to himself, then he picked up the strip he cut off earlier. “I’m gonna tie this around your body. It’ll help keep your arm and shoulder as still as possible.”

Jack only nodded.

“Raise your left arm for me…” Mac instructed as he was ready to tie the ends together.

Jack did as he was told.

“Too tight?”

“Nah…”

“You should stay here… Just wait for me to get back…”

Jack shook his head.

“You look like you’re on the verge of passing out, you really shouldn’t move too much.”

“I can’t let you walk straight in there without backup!”

“Yes, you can! You’re injured!”

“No need getting you injured too!”

“No need getting you killed either!”

“I’m going!”

“No, you’re not!”

Jack glared at Mac.

“You can’t fight either way…”

“I can shoot…”

“With your left hand?”

“Plenty good enough!”

“Jack…”

“Mac, I need to!”

“I can take care of myself…”

“Yeah, I would believe that if you hadn’t been knocked out cold 10 minutes ago…”

“Look, it’s just down the hallway and into the office at the end. Riley will hack the computer in there once I put the USB in. I’ll be fine. You on the other hand look like shit!”

“Thanks for the boost of confidence!”

“Look, it’s safer for you to stay here…”

“Screw safety! I’m not a safety kind of guy, kid!”

Mac stared back at Jack.

“Well, maybe you should care a little more about your own safety then…”

“I’m going… Nothing you will say can change that…”

Mac grunted and cast a glimpse down at Jack’s arm nestled neatly in the improvised sling.

For a second Mac debated whether to knock Jack out or not, but then remembered that they needed to get away from there too, and it would be a lot easier if Jack was awake for that.

“Okay, but I don’t like it…” Mac finally caved.

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They reached the door at the end of the corridor. Mac had a bad feeling about letting Jack join him on this last stretch of the mission. The man was injured enough as it was.

“Look, you stay out here until I clear the room.”

“Nah-ah… I’m coming in with you...” Jack answered and pulled back the slide with help of his teeth.

“Just. Don’t get hurt… Okay?”

“I’ll do my best.” Jack nodded, “Same goes for you…”

“I know…”


	3. We need a bird

Mac looked at the door, it was a standard two inch thick wooden door.

Jack held his gun low, pointing towards the floor.

They looked at each other, both hesitating.

“Look Mac… I’m not gonna kick down the door…” Jack locked eyes with Mac, then he nodded towards his arm.

Mac followed his eyes, and studied his own handiwork. Jack’s injured arm was held securely to his chest. There were no doubt that it was painful, but Jack handled it better than most guys would have.

Mac nodded.

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The door collapsed as Mac’s boot connected with it just below the doorknob. The door caved after his first attempt, and Mac ran into the room with his momentum.

Jack ran in afterwards, his gun in front of him.

There were a man sitting behind a desk by the opposite wall. He was a little thickset and starting to go bald. He wore a grey wool suit and a wine red tie. His left hand rested on top of a stack of papers, his right was hidden.

Jack raised his gun a little, aiming at the man’s head.

“I heard there was trouble on the way…” the man said emotionless. His face was blank, his voice was cool. He looked from Mac, over to Jack, back to Mac again. He held Mac’s eyes for a minute before his gaze drifted towards Jack’s gun.

The man started to lean forward.

“Hey, DON’T!” Jack commanded, pointing with his gun.

The man didn’t care.

A sharp pang rang through the room, the silence afterwards was deafening.

The guy in the chair collapsed sideways. Jack fell against the wall behind him, as his knees refused to bear his weight, he painted a red trail leading down the wall.

“JACK!” MacGyver yelled with budding panic. He was kneeling beside Jack in no time.

“I’m good… I’m fine…” Jack tried to calm his friend. It didn’t really work given the red rose blossoming on his shirt on the left side of his waist. “Go, make sure the other guy is out…”

“Keep pressure on that…” Mac fixed his eyes on Jack’s until Jack nodded and pressed down on the twin wounds. His hand was just big enough to press down on both the entrance and the exit wound at the same time.

“How is he?”

“Dead…”

“You sure?”

“He’s missing half his head…”

Jack nodded and tried to stand up.

“Hey hey HEY!” Mac put a hand down on Jack’s shoulder, anchoring him. “Let me see that first…”

“ ‘S nothing…” Jack attempted a brave smile, not knowing how miserably he failed. “It’s just a nick…”

Mac ignored him as he started tugging Jack’s shirt out from the waist of his jeans.

“Hand…”

As soon as Jack removed his hand, blood gushed out of the wounds.

“Jack, pressure!”

Jack’s hand found the wound again, and he pressed down on it. The flow slowed down.

“Okay, you’re not allowed to move too much now. Get it?”

Jack was still staring in the direction of the wound. All of the sudden he looked more like a hurt, lost boy than a grown up man.

“Jack, do you understand?”

Jack nodded a fraction, before his eyes found Mac.

“This is bad, isn’t it?”

Mac hated how his buddy’s voice sounded. It was weak and fragile, frightened and adolescent. But the thing that Mac hated most of all, was that he couldn’t with good conscience assure his friend that everything was going to be okay.

“I’m going to die? Aren’t I?”

Mac shook his head, but tears were stinging in his eyes.

“No. No, you’re not gonna die.” Mac swallowed down a sob threatening to leave his lips. “Just, keep pressure on that wound.”

Jack nodded, as tears rolled down his cheek.

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Mac flipped on his com on private.

“Riley, we need a fast ride to a hospital.”

“Hospital? What’s happening over there?”

“Jack’s been shot. The bleeding is pretty bad.”

He heard the shocked gasp on the other side of the radio. He imagined Riley covering her mouth with her hand. She still tried to play tough against Jack, but Mac knew she looked at the man as family by now. The whole thing between her father and Jack long forgotten.

“How bad is it?”

“Well, we need a bird as soon as possible…”

“Sending a chopper now.” Riley confirmed before she paused. Then, with a shaky voice, she asked the question Mac had been dreading. “Is he going to make it?”

Mac paused his search for something to use to stop the bleeding and looked over at Jack’s pale face.

“I hope so…” he then whispered into the microphone.


	4. Pack it

Mac was tearing the room apart to find something suitable to stop Jack’s bleeding. He had already used his own shirt to help Jack keep pressure on the wound, but he needed more.

After a twenty frantic seconds of searching for anything that could be used to pack a wound, he realized the perfect answer was right in front of him. Or… Rather… Right behind him…

Mac turned to the window and ripped down a set of curtains. They seemed to be washed regularly, but it wasn’t all that important now. It was one of those things, what can kill Jack now, what can kill him later kind of situations. And it was better to risk an infection later on, than to be damn sure he bled out right now…

He hurried over to Jack again, his friend was getting paler and paler.

“Heeey, buddy…” Mac lifted Jack’s chin to make eye contact. “How’re you holding up bud?”

“Mac, I’m going to die…” Jack deadpanned, his eyes were watery and his expression grim.

“So am I, but let’s agree that we both make it at least forty more years before that happens. Agreed?”

“There’s no way I survive this…” Jack sobbed, “Tell mom I wasn’t just a screw-up, please?”

Mac’s heart ached. “No, we’ll tell her that together. And you’ll be alright.”

Jack shook his head.

In the meanwhile, Mac had ripped the curtain up into eight-inch wide strips.

“You’ll make it! Now, this here is going to hurt, but it should slow down that bleeding!” Mac didn’t wait for a response from Jack before he started stuffing the GSW with wide strips of curtain.

Jack sounded his displeasure with the treatment, but didn’t fight it either.

Mac worked quickly, able hands pushing fabric into the gaping wound.

“Okay, I need more strips. Keep a pressure on that while I prepare more…”

Jack made a feeble attempt at nodding, but he was too spent to actually lift his head back up. He managed to put pressure on the bleeding wound though.

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Mac was pleased with himself as the wound stopped bleeding as much. And judging by the blood covering Jack’s clothes and the small pool on the floor, it had been done in time. He had seen men lose more blood and survive.

He had made Jack lay down with his freshly packed wound up. This meant that he was laying on top of his injured arm, something which hurt. But it was necessary… Jack’s head was resting on Mac’s lap, right on top of where Mac had been shot himself back in Cairo.

“Mac…” Jack’s weak voice was almost unrecognizable.

“Yeah…?”

“You’re the best friend a guy could ever die by…”

Mac’s eyes welled up with tears, making his vision blur even more.

“Hey… You’re not going to die today.” He hoped that he was speaking the truth, he really did. “But you should rest. Don’t spend your energy on talking…”

Mac brushed his hand over Jack’s head, and the older man seemed to relax a bit more.

“Mac…”

“Mhmm…?”

“It hurts…”

“Yeah, I know buddy…” Mac wished he would make miracles and take away Jack’s pain. Too bad he wasn’t a magician… “Just hang on for a little while longer…”

“I’m tired…”

Mac felt tears rolling down his cheeks. He pushed the button for the radio again. “Riley, ETA?”

“They should be landing right about now. Which room are you in?”

“Oh, yeah… I hear them…” Mac commented as he realized he had been oblivious to the helicopter landing outside. “Room 205…”

“Okay… Now they know…” Riley informed after clicking away on the keyboard. “Mac?”

“Yeah…?”

“How’s he doing?” the concern was evident in her voice, and it made Mac’s heart ache all that more.

“Still breathing…”

“Tell Riley…” Jack spoke like it took every ounce of strength he had, “Tell her she’s a good girl… She’s the best…”

Mac didn’t have to, the fact that Riley had started crying told him that she had heard Jack’s command.

“She knows Jack…” Mac said, rubbing a hand comforting across the side of Jack’s head. “And she really wants you to read to you once you’re home and healing…”

“She used to read out loud to me back when…” Jack exhaled heavily.

“Rest, Jack… You can tell me later…” Mac tried to keep his own voice steady, as he blinked away another set of tears.

“Mac, please tell me he’s gonna make it!” Riley’s voice was way higher than usual.

“I really hope he does…” Mac admitted just as the medevac rushed into the room.

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“How’d you know about the reading?” Riley asked as they sat in the waiting area. She was sitting in a bundle with her knees tucked close to her chest.

“You’ve both told me…” Mac ran a hand through his hair.

“Have we?”

Mac nodded, “I know Jack secretly misses that. Feeling like a dad, you know…”

“I miss it too… He was the first one who really took an interest in my grades… You know, not in that way; ‘I’m so disappointed, you should know better way…’ But in that; ‘Here, let me help you…’ way…”

“He’s proud of you. You know that?”

Riley shrugged, wiping away a tear which had formed in the corner of her eye.

“There’s a reason he wanted you on our team. And I don’t think it was because of the mission we needed to solve.”

Riley tilted her head to look over at Mac.

“He was the one who recommended me?”

“He did… I bet that if he had to, he would have gotten down on his knees and begged Thornton to hire you…”

“Oh  gosh… I hope he makes it!”

Mac nodded. “He’s made it this far… I think he’ll survive…”

Riley nodded and leaned against Mac’s shoulder. Mac put his arm around her shoulder…

“He’s gonna be fine…”

Riley nodded against Mac’s jaw.


	5. Waking up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I wrote and posted this on ff.net before ep 1x11. Kinda proud of that...

A heart monitor beeped steadily in the corner of the room. Jack was still sleeping off the anesthetics they had pumped into him during the surgery, but Mac and Riley had been allowed to enter the room.

Jack was uncharacteristically pale because of the blood loss, but the doctors had him hooked up to a bag of his blood type.

It wasn’t normal to see Jack this still. Well, unless he was in sniper gear and hiding in plain sight…

Jack’s right arm was placed on top of a blue foam pillow. Metal was poking out of his hand, keeping the fractures in his hand in place. At his elbow a thick bandage covered the incision they had used while fixing his messed up elbow. Nothing had really been done to his shoulder yet, except reducing it and keeping it still.

Under the covers, his left side was covered by an even thicker bandage than the one at his elbow. The wound was being drained through a tube leading into a fluid bag.

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“This is all wrong…” Riley whispered to herself.

Mac looked over at her.

“Jack’s hurt…” she continued, “Jack never gets hurt!”

Mac grimaced, casting a glance over at his buddy.

“I wish that was true…”

“He never did…”

“He does…” Mac countered, “A lot…”

Riley looked like she was about to break down.

“He never used to…” her voice was close to breaking, “Not when my mom and…”

“That was a different job, this one is a bit riskier…” Mac cleared his throat in order not to start crying. “He knew that when he signed up, so did I…”

Riley nodded.

“But Jack is supposed to mess around and break his arm attempting a flip on a skateboard. Then he’s supposed to learn me to do a cartwheel the day after… That’s how Jack’s supposed to be… He’s the one who is supposed to bounce right back up!”

Mac chuckled. He had heard most of the stories about Jack’s time with Riley’s mom already, but he didn’t mind hearing them from Riley too.

“Unfortunately there’s a slight difference between a simple fracture, and all of that…” Mac motioned towards Jack’s still form.

“Unfortunately, yes…”

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The sun started creeping down below the horizon, and the sky turned a cold shade of blue. Riley hadn’t really moved from Jack’s room since they had been allowed to enter. Mac had taken a few trips to the cafeteria and such.

A pained moan was the first hint that Jack was about to wake up.

“Hey…” Riley cooed as softly as she could not to startle Jack.

Jack managed to open his eyes a bit, enough to make out black curls.

“Ri?”

“Yeah…” Riley answered, placing her hand over Jack’s good one. “It’s me…”

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice still raw from sleeping off the narcosis.

“I’m fine…” she answered with a smile, “You’re the one that’s hurt…”

“Did we crash or something?”

“No… You and Mac were on a mission, I was at the hotel…”

Riley saw Jack blink in confusion for a few seconds before he managed to connect the dots.

“How’s Mac?” he asked, eyes wide with panic.

“He’s fine, just had to get something to eat…”

Jack relaxed back against his pillow, “Did we get the job done?”

Riley nodded, “You guys always do…”

Jack smirked.

“Does it hurt?”

Jack shook his head, “Not a bit…”

“Liar…” Mac sighed as he walked into the room with two coffees.

Jack looked over at his blond colleague.

“Look, I’m trying to keep up my appearance for our girl here…” Jack complained, inhaling sharply as his side hurt.

“Jack, you know you don’t have to do that no more…” Riley squeezed Jack’s hand.

The pain manifested in Jack’s face as he nodded towards her.

“How long will I be like this?” he directed his question to Mac.

“At least two months…” Mac answered, suddenly finding new interest in his shoes, “Probably more…”

“Really…?”

Mac nodded.

“Is my arm or my side the worst of it?”

“Your side was the most life threatening, but your arm will take the longest to heal…” Mac explained.

“Life threatening…” Jack murmured, “I don’t like those words…”

“Me neither bud…” Mac shook his head.

“Two months, really?”

Mac nodded again, “That is if nothing goes wrong…”

“Best case…”

“Best case…” Mac repeated.

Jack looked up at the ceiling, “And when am I to go home?”

“They still have to do a couple of things to your arm… And the GSW to your side needs to stop seeping…” Riley answered.

“So…”

Both Riley and Mac shrugged.

“You should just relax Jack, there’s nothing we can do about it anyway…” Mac said as he stepped closer. “Just rest, heal up…”

Jack nodded, and gazed at his arm.

“That looks pretty serious…” his eyes pointed towards his hand where the external fixator kept his bones in place.

“A little worse than your skateboarding career…” Riley smirked.

“Hey, I was king on that board…”

“Yeah, for a full ten minutes…” Riley shot back, remembering the incident that happened back when she was eight.

Jack chuckled.

“We’re going to take good care of you when you’re ready to get out of here…” Riley said, nodding towards Mac.

“I don’t doubt it…” Jack smiled, before he grimaced. “But could one of you get a nurse or a doctor? Because all this is starting to frigging hurt…”

Mac saw the desperation in Jack’s eyes, nodded and hurried out in the hallway.


	6. Cab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chap will have a couple of references to my other MacGyver fanfic, (Let’s not talk about Cairo, like, ever…) And there will be a bit of hurt!Mac added into the mix… Because I’m shameless…
> 
> Anyway… Hope you enjoy!

 

Mac watched Jack get out of the hospital bed. His arm was hung in a sling around his neck, a pristine white cast stretching the full length of his arm.

He felt sorry for his friend as he let out a grunt of pain. The way Jack squeezed his eyes shut and the way his lips tightened told Mac his friend was in a great deal of pain. The way Jack held his hand to support the sling made him seem extremely fragile.

“How are you doing?” Mac asked about ready to get up and steady Jack as his feet almost buckled beneath him.

“Great…” Jack lied, oblivious to how false it sounded.

Mac sighed and scowled at Jack.

“Okay, I’ve been better.” Jack admitted and looked down at the floor. “But hey, it’ll pass… Right?”

Mac nodded and pushed himself out of his seat. He couldn’t help but let out a small gasp as the old injury from Cairo tinged. A mission gone half-sideways yesterday had made his injury act up again. On second thought it could happen that he had re-injured his knee… But it was still too early to tell, at least without a trip through an MRI machine.

“How ‘bout you?” Jack asked with a worried tone, “Is your leg bothering you?”

“Just a bruised muscle…” he sighed, “Knee and thigh is fine.”

Jack nodded and his eyes fell on Mac’s leg, right where he knew the scars were.

“Good… But are you sure you shouldn’t be on crutches?”

“Pretty sure I don’t need crutches…” Mac answered with a sigh.

“Anyway, you should take it slow for a while… No running around, saving the world. Not before you’re all better, okay?”

“If I’m not mistaken, YOU are the one who’s injured…”

“Yeah, well… You have an old injury, a serious one. Don’t get mad at me for being a bit worried about you too…”

“Jack, it’s fine.”

“Mac…”

“It hasn’t bothered me in years…” MacGyver smiled, “So don’t worry about it. I’m fine… You on the other hand, look like you lost a fight with a gorilla…”

Jack smiled sourly, “Feel like that too…”

He walked over to his duffle bag, zipped it with his good hand and hung it over his shoulder.

“Sure you don’t want me to carry that?” Mac pointed at the duffle.

“Dude, I’m going to lose all my muscle mass if you keep on doing this overprotective thing you’ve got going…”

Mac chuckled, nodding.

“Okay, carry it yourself…”

“Hey, boys… Are you ready to go?” Riley asked poking her head through the door. “The cab is outside…”

“Cab?” Jack asked quizzically.

“Yeah, Patty figured Mac would still be tired after yesterday, and I have barely slept in the last 32 hours… She figured we could take a cab…”

Jack looked at Mac.

“You went on a mission…” He waited for Mac to nod. “Without me?!?!?”

Mac’s lips tightened in a half-smile. “Yeah…”

“That’s when you…” Jack gestured towards Mac’s leg.

“Jack, nothing happened…”

“Hey, we’ve got to go!”

“Okay Ri… We’re coming…” Jack nodded and walked out in the hallway.

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Jack studied Mac’s gait as they walked towards the exit. He didn’t like what he was seeing. It was obvious that his young friend favored his right leg, and that each step he took with that leg caused him pain.

Jack frowned as he studied the tense way Mac’s shoulders were set. Stiff, like he was bracing himself for the pain he expected when stepping down on his leg.

Jack stopped dead in his tracks.

“Mac!”

MacGyver stopped, turned and looked puzzled over at Jack.

“You’re limping…” He said, eyeing Mac. “Not in a pretty way…”

“Jack… Let’s just get to the car…” Mac almost whined, “We can argue about this later…”

“So… You already know that we’re going to argue…”

Mac rolled his eyes and turned back around. “Jack. Outside.”

Mac started walking.

“Now…”

“Mac…”

“Jack, we’ve really got to go…” Riley walked back to Jack and grabbed a hold of his good arm, gently forcing him forward.

“Okay, okay, okay…” Jack sighed, and walked reluctantly towards the elevator.

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They reached the cab, Riley was a couple of yards ahead of the boys.

“Hey, cabbie!” she smiled through the window, and the cabbie buzzed down the window.

“You the one for Dalton?”

The cab driver nodded, and Riley smiled.

“Good…” She cast a glance over her shoulder and saw Mac and Jack coming after her. Mac was struggling more and more to almost hide the limp he was sporting. “Look, I know it’s custom for the passengers to ride in the back, but my friend hurt his knee yesterday. It’s painful for him to bend his knee… Can he sit up front?”

The cab driver looked over Riley’s shoulder and saw Jack with the sling, and Mac limping by his side.

He nodded. “Sure…”

“Thank you.” Riley smiled, “And could you keep it a bit hush-hush? He’s a bit weird about it… He doesn’t want to admit how bad his knee is…”

The driver smirked, “Sure hon. It‘s just gonna feel like I’m back home… You see, where I come from, the passengers usually sit up front. I sure miss Norway…”

“You’re from Norway?”

The cab driver nodded.

“Cool…”

She opened both the doors on the passenger side, and turned to face the boys.

“Mac, you’re in the front… Jack, hop in the back!”

Mac stopped outside the vehicle.

“Am I going to ride in the front seat?”

“Yeah, cause with Jack’s bad shoulder, it’s gonna be a little too tight in the back. And you’re taller than me…”

“Well, Jack’s a bit taller than me… He should probably sit up front…”

“Then the door is going to be on the wrong side of him…” She turned to face Jack, winking with the eye Mac couldn’t see from his angle.

“Yeah… Yeah, see… With this sling, and the door handle and…” Jack paused, shrugging his good shoulder, “It’s better that you sit shotgun…”

“Okay… If the driver agrees to it…” Mac shook his head before he bent down to talk to the driver through the open door.

“It’s okay, she already asked…” the driver smiled, “It’s not good for your friend if you sit in the back all three of you… It can get a little tight there…”

Riley mentally thanked the driver for picking up on their little discussion, and just running with it…

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The guy beside him looked cramped when the seat was pushed all the way to the front.

“Want your seat back a bit? Not much room for your legs there…”

“It’s fine…” the blond man answered while absentmindedly rubbing a hand over his knee.

“The lever is on the left. You can put the seat all the way back, the wall gives your friends in the back enough leg room either way…”

The blond man nodded, but didn’t do anything about his lack of space.

“Man, it looks uncomfortable… Just push your seat back…”

The man in the passenger seat seemed to force a smile, before he bent forward and pulled the lever. His seat slid backward.

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It took less than five minutes before the young man in the passenger seat started to massage his knee. His breathing was labored and the muscles by his jaw were dancing.

This man was trying to hide the fact that his leg hurt, but he was failing miserably.

The man suddenly stopped and settled into his seat. He had picked up on the fact that the driver had studied him out of the corner of his eye, and the blond became self-conscious about the way he rubbed his knee to relieve some pain.

“Just a little muscle stiffness…” the guy tried to brush it away.

“Worked out too hard?”

The blond shrugged, “Guess so…”

“Happens to the best of us…” The cab driver nodded knowingly, “So, when you work out, is it weights, football, parkour? What do you do?”

“Mac there, he’s quite good at parkour!” Jack called out from the back of the cab, beating Mac to the answer.

Mac shook his head in exasperation before he answered for himself. “Weights, parkour, some martial arts…”

“And gymnastics!” Jack willingly helped out from the back.

“…And I used to do gymnastics.” Mac ran a hand down his face, “Switched that out for parkour when time started becoming an issue…”

“Cool…” the taxi driver nodded, “You good?”

“He’s very good!”

“I USED TO BE, Jack… I _used to be…_ ”

The driver sensed something like anger or frustration build up within the blond.

“Nah, you’re still good!” 

In his rearview mirror, the driver saw a smug smirk painted over the features of the guy with the sling. Dalton, or Jack, obviously.

“Boys, behave…” the young woman in the back warned. And the men seemed to settle down a bit.

“And you?” Any sports?” the blond in front decided to ask back.

“Used to do alpine sports… Wrecked my left knee in a bad fall on a pair of downhill skis…”

He saw the guy beside him visibly flinch as he spoke the last sentence. This guy definitely had a more serious injury than some muscle stiffness in his history.

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His meds had started working, his arm and side didn’t hurt too much. So he was able to enjoy the sight of Mac squirming in his seat.

He really wanted to know what had happened to Mac the day before. Judging by the limp his friend had _tried_ to hide, it had to be on the heavier side of bad. Not all the way to completely fucked up, but still… Bad enough that Mac probably should be using crutches. But then there were Mac’s stubbornness to take in to count, and that ruled out the possibilities of Mac using crutches unless it was ABSOLUTELY necessary.

Jack fished his phone out of his pocket. It was difficult to manage the simple task with just the help of his left hand.

Once he had it in his hand, he opened up a blank text and started typing.

_‘Hey Ri  
Whaet hsppned tp Mac?’_

He didn’t bother fixing the typos. He figured Riley would be able to decrypt the message anyway...

He looked over at Riley, who was staring out the window. Watching the city pass by.

He weighed the phone in his hand before he tossed it over to her. It hit her lap. She looked puzzled over at him, before she picked the phone up and looked at it.

The she looked over at Jack for a second or so, then she fixed her eyes back on the phone and started to type her answer.

_‘Don’t really know. I only heard_  
it over the com. Didn’t sound too  
good… When we met up after  
he could barely put weight  
on that leg… He seems  
a lot better today, but I’m  
still worried.’

She leaned over and put the phone directly in Jack’s hand. Jack read it.

_‘Wht was he doinh?”_

Smartphones really wasn’t made for when you only had your non-dominant hand to operate it with… He flipped the phone over to Riley again.

_‘He was sneaking towards where_  
we expected the gang leader to  
be. Apparently got surprised by   
some of the goons. I heard   
fighting, lots of ruckus, a few   
thuds and then more ruckus and   
then Mac cried out… Heard a lot   
of noise, then Mac said everything   
was okay. Then he finished his job.   
Limped back to me.’

She passed the phone to Jack again. He read it and his eyebrows tightened.

_‘You abd Mac were out plsyinh_  
spies slone? Uou were in tge   
field? Alonw!?’

He showed the text to Riley, who nodded after skimming through it.

Jack took the phone back and erased the words before he started typing again.

_’I’m so proud of ypu, I am… But you_  
out in thw field alone with Mac?  
Ri it’s dangerous out there!’

Riley took the phone as soon as Jack stopped typing. Read the words and looked over at him, she didn’t even have to look at the phone as she erased the text and started over.

_‘OVERPROTECTIVE MUCH?’_

She rolled her eyes as she handed the phone over to Jack again.

Jack stared back at Riley, long and hard.

_‘Okay, I might be… I just don’t likr_  
you beimg out there wheb I’m not  
out there to protevt you!’

Riley looked at the message, and smiled.

_‘Okay, you are kinda sweet… I’ve_  
got to give you that one. And   
who knows, maybe that sling and   
hurt puppy look you’re sporting   
will give you some luck with the   
ladies.’

Jack read the text and grinned.

_‘ypi think?’_

Riley nodded.

_‘As painful it is to admit, there_  
has to be a lot of women who   
would fall for you…  
But if you ever mention this to   
anyone, I’ll deny it!’

Jack chuckled as he read the words Riley had typed in to his phone. He didn’t have a chance to screenshot it before Riley snapped the phone back and erased that too.

“So, Mac! How ‘bout a movie night?” Jack raised his voice to make sure Mac wouldn’t have any problems hearing him.

Mac turned to look past the partition, “Tonight?”

Jack nodded, “Yeah, sure! I heard the new action movie is a blast! We could invite Roy and Thomas too, bring Ri and Bozer, make a thing of it!?”

Mac frowned a bit, enough for Jack to notice. “Look, I’d love to… But I’m spent… I’m not doing anything tonight unless it involves pillows and blankets…”

“Okay… How about tomorrow?”

“I don’t know…” Mac shrugged, his eyes flicking down to his right knee, “Let’s see tomorrow… I kinda have a few things I need to get done back home, and Bozer has one of his film projects going. Think I’m supposed to be a knight with a drug addiction in this one…”

Riley laughed, she had been coined to be the hero of the story, the princess who saved herself.

“Okay, I get it… But hey, the offer still stands…” Jack bobbed his head. In the back of his mind, he had a feeling that Mac’s knee had more to do with him declining the offer than whatever else he had going.

“Good… I’ll see if I can move some things around tomorrow…”

Yeah, Jack was pretty sure it was Mac’s way of saying that his leg was the fault.

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They arrived at Mac’s house first. Since the ride was paid by the Phoenix account and only needed a signature on the recite, Mac tipped the driver a few bucks before he struggled out of his seat. The ride had stiffened up his knee, and moving proved way harder than he had expected. There were no way in hell that Jack and Riley missed the way he winced as something in his knee jarred. No, he already knew he would be called up by Jack who only wanted to check in on him and make sure he wasn’t in too much pain.

“You good Mac?” Jack asked as Riley opened her door to get out and help Mac.

“I’m fine…” Mac growled through gritted teeth, in his third attempt getting out of the car.

“Here, let me help you…” Riley offered, extending her hands for Mac to grab on to.

Mac shook his head.

“Come on, we know you’re in pain!” Jack truth-bombed Mac from the rear seat. “You don’t need to play hero on us…”

“I said, I’m fine.” Mac said calmly, breathing through his nose. “Just a little sore, that’s all…”

In the meanwhile the driver had gotten out of the car and stepped over to the passenger side. He had yet to say anything, and Jack guessed he was adding up the pro’s and con’s of offering his help. Given the way Mac clearly wanted to manage by himself, Jack understood why the guy hesitated.

“Mac, Bozer is gonna be home in ten minutes or so… Do you want help in now, or do you want him to see you struggle when he gets here?” Riley squatted down to get her eyes level with Mac’s.

Mac grimaced, and tried to get out of the car once more. It didn’t take…

“Okay…” he finally said in a solemn tone. “Unless I want Bozer to become Mama Bozer for a couple of weeks, I guess you win…”

Riley smirked at her own genius, and grabbed a hold of Mac’s right arm. The driver held the door stable, as Mac used that for support.

“Thanks…” Mac muttered and tried to untangle himself from Riley’s grip. In his attempt to do so, he accidentally stepped down on his right leg, gasping as his leg flared up.

“I’m helping you to the door! Nothing you can say will change that!” Riley placed herself under Mac’s right arm, acting as a crutch for him.

Once he had the door closed, the driver joined them at Mac’s left side.

“Look, you honestly don’t have to do this…” Mac almost pleaded to the driver. “I’m not old and fragile…”

“Never thought you were either…” the driver reassured, “But it ain’t a crime to accept help when it’s offered anyway…”

“You have a bit to learn there Mac…” Riley sighed, “And you and Jack really have to tell me about Cairo… Because all I ever hear when one of you are in a shitty place is ‘Well, it was worse back in Cairo…’ or some shit like that, but Jack asked you earlier if it was ‘that Cairo thing’ that was wrong…”

“Cairo?” the driver asked, puzzled.

“We don’t really talk about it…” Mac almost chuckled, before blowing a breath up the hair hanging down in his face. “But it’s where I first screwed up my knee…”

“What happened to it?” Riley demanded, as she unlocked the door for Mac.

“My knee?”

Riley nodded.

“Tore about everything you can tear…” Mac sighed, “Spent months on crutches afterwards…”

“How?” Riley followed up.

“Long story, ‘nother day?”

“As long as I get to hear the story, cause I’ll never get to hear the story from Jack. That much I’m sure of…”

Mac laughed as they entered the apartment, “Yeah, he has some pretty bad memories from that trip too…”

The three of them paused inside the door, scanning the area for their target.

“Where to?” the driver finally asked.

“Couch…” Mac decided.

Riley and the driver positioned Mac on the couch. Mac thanked them, and the driver headed back to the cab. Riley hung back for a few seconds.

“Do you have any meds I can bring you?” Her voice was filled with concern, “Or some crutches laying around?”

“You don’t have to…”

“Mac…”

“Got something for pain in the top drawer of my nightstand…” Mac looked away like he was ashamed, even though he had nothing to be ashamed of.

Riley nodded and jogged away to get them and a glass of water.

“Here…” she said as she placed both on the table in front of him.

“Thank you, Riley…” he flashed a shy smile at her.

“No problem, you just focus on healing up nicely…”

He nodded, “It’s nothing… Probably just did too much…”

“Let’s hope so, but for now… Focus on getting enough rest, and don’t be afraid to lean on your friends… We are here for that purpose…” Riley leveled her eyes with Mac’s again, before she ruffled his hair. “Okay, now I’ve got to go and babysit Jack… See you tomorrow!”

Mac laughed, “Good luck with that.”

Riley smiled and headed for the door.

“Hey, Riley!” She stopped a few feet short of the door, “Thanks…”

She just nodded.

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A little while later they arrived at Jack’s place. It didn’t take long before Jack had settled on the couch, with his feet up on an armchair.

Riley had found her way to the kitchen, figuring that if she was hungry, then Jack might be so too…

A little while later, she surprised Jack with homemade pizza.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, well… That was not short…  
> I think I just made up for those chapters that don’t reach 1k words…
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well… And sorry/not-really-sorry for adding hurt!Mac into this one…


	7. Home

Riley watched as Jack chomped down on another slice of pizza. His arm sure didn’t shorten his appetite, unlike Mac who could go for days without eating if he was in pain.

They were watching some old B-quality movie.

Riley was curled up in the opposite end of the sofa with an afghan covering her legs. She had a cup of hot cocoa in front of her, and half a slice pizza on her plate.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” Jack asked enjoying the pizza, “Because I know for a fact that it wasn’t from your mom…”

Riley giggled, “After a few years I figured that if I had to eat, it should at least taste somewhat decent.”

“Have anybody thanked you for that yet? If not, let me be the first… Thank you for learning how to cook!”

“I thanked myself for that a long time ago…” Riley smirked. “But thanks…”

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Jack struggled keeping awake the last half of the movie, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. So when the end credits came on, he struggled upright and pulled himself to his feet.

“You going to bed already?”

“Yeah… I’m beat…” Jack answered, stretching his good arm above his head until an audible pop was heard throughout the room. Then his left hand found its way back to the task of supporting his other arm, the one which was already supported by a sling…

Riley grimaced, then she nodded. “You deserve a good night’s worth of sleep…”

“Hey, just stay up as long as you’d like…” Jack turned to face her, “I still sleep like a dead dude…”

Riley laughed a bit before she nodded. “Okay…”

“You can take the room down the hallway and to the left… Sheets and stuff are on the top shelf in the closet…” Jack looked down at his arm, “Sorry I can’t help put them on…”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it…” Riley assured him.

Jack nodded. “Good night Ri…”

“Nighty night Jack!” Riley called as Jack was about to turn around the corner. She wasn’t all too pleased about the way Jack automatically used his left hand to support the sling, like it wasn’t doing its job well enough… But he was home, and he was safe… And she got to look after him for a while...

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Jack woke up hyperventilating. His heart was hammering in his chest. His body was covered in sweat.

It took him a minute to realize where he was. That the dark around him, was his own bedroom. That there were no imminent threats, nothing that would hurt him or anyone he loved right then and there…

His eyes were flicking left and right, searching for anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t even register the blinding pain coming from his injuries, adrenaline was making sure of that.

“Jack?” Riley’s voice came softly from the other side of the door. “Are you okay in there?”

Jack tried his best to calm his breathing. Force his panic attack away.

“May I come in…?” Riley’s voice was soft and familiar.

“No, no! I’m good, everything is great!” Jack called out, a little short of breath. Violent images still floating across his mind.

“Jack…” concern was dripping from her voice. “You were screaming… Let me come in, please…”

Jack was still amped up on nightmares, flashes of memories long suppressed had stolen his rest once again.

“I’m fine, I said!” Jack wasn’t able to hide the panic in his voice.

“Please let me come in…” Riley had her hand on the handle. She hadn’t seen Jack have flashbacks before, but she knew that was what had just happened.

Jack was still panting, doing his best to even his breath.

“Jack… I’m afraid…” she said with a juvenile tone, “Please let me in…”

“Okay… Okay…” Jack gasped, his arm and side finally starting to log on to the pain train…

Riley opened the door a couple of inches, just enough to see Jack in the gleam from the door.

“How are you doing?”

“Just a bad dream…” Jack seemed a bit distracted as he answered.

“Mind if I turn on the lights here?”

“Kinda…”

“Okay, I’ll keep them off…” she murmured, “you dressed?”

“I’m in bed… What do you think?”

“Are you completely naked?”

“No… Why?”

“I’m coming over…” Riley said walking over to Jack’s bed. She went around the bed and climbed into the bed on Jack’s left side. “Whoa, you’re drenched!”

Jack looked over at Riley in the dark. His heart was still racing, his chest was heaving up and down as he tried to regain some control.

“Yeah, a little sweaty… Sorry…”

“Don’t worry… I can shower later…” she whispered as she helped Jack sit up enough to slip behind his back. “Let’s just sit like this for a while.”

When she felt Jack’s head bob against her shoulder, she lifted her hand to run it through Jack’s hair. Gently massaging his scalp.

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It took a few minutes before Jack started relaxing. Riley felt as it happened, his body became less rigid, and eased more into hers.

“Want to talk about it?”

Jack nodded, but didn’t make a move to speak.

“I’m here for you…”

“I need to talk about it…” Jack sighed, “I just don’t think I can…”

“Classified?”

“Not more than anything else…”

“Another reason then?”

Jack nodded, his hair tickling her chin.

“I’m not ready...” paused to let out a low hiss, “I want to… But I’m…”

“Not ready?”

“Scared…”

The way he filled in the blank broke Riley’s heart. To her, Jack had always been that happy-go-lucky, life’s just a game, kinda guys. The kind that don’t have a care in the world…   
Because that was the role he played. Always…  
And to see him hurt and vulnerable like this… It just broke her heart.

“It’s alright…” she whispered into his ear, “We’ll talk when you’re ready…”

“Thanks Ri…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay… So…
> 
> Apparently Jack now struggles with PTSD of some kind… Because that’s where my writing lead me… Jack seems like this really strong and steady person/character, but sometimes it’s just those who struggles the most. And they often struggle in silence… (Which is a shame, cause there is no reason a human being should suffer through that alone…)
> 
> I predict that that the next chapter will have a serious amount of Jack and Riley brother-sister like fluff… And maaaybe a serious and dark undertone?  
> You'll have to see...


	8. Are you out of your mind?

Riley woke up first. Jack was still leaning against her in his sleep. Soft snores coming from him in a steady rhythm. Peaceful, at ease… Unlike earlier that night…

She studied him. He had boxer briefs on, but that was it. As her eyes traced his torso, she understood why he had insisted on keeping the lights off. A nasty burn scar was bulging across the right side of his abdomen. At five or six places Riley saw scars similar to the one Mac had on his chest, the gunshot wound. There were scars from sharp objects slicing through Jack’s tissue, at some places it had to have been all the way down to his ribs.

She didn’t have to see his back to have good reason to believe it matched his front.

She eyed the bruise peeking out from under the cast covering Jack’s arm. It was dark and mottled… She let her eyes wander to the other end of the cast, the two fingers which weren’t covered in plaster were heavily bruised. His thumb, index and middle fingers were fixed in cast. The tips of those three fingers were even more bruised than the two fingers not incased in plaster.

She could only imagine how the rest of the arm looked.

She sat completely still. She didn’t want to disturb Jack. He looked so peaceful where slept, and Riley didn’t have the heart to wake him. So she just sat and watched.

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A dull throbbing in his arm was what woke him up. He was a little confused as he came to, not sure quite where he was, or what he was leaning up against. Or… Who he leaned up against…

He tilted his head sideways until he saw a bunch of black curls running down an oversized t-shirt. He followed the curls upward until he was staring straight at her. Once he realized who it was, he jerked forward. He doubled over and pressed his injured arm tight to his torso.

He let out a long cry of pain, before he rolled over to his left side and the cry evolved into sobbing.

“Jack!” Riley gasped, reaching for the closest of his legs.

Jack flinched away from her touch.

“It’s just me, Riley…” she tried to calm him.

“I see that…” Jack growled, still partially blinded by the pain. “Why the hell are you in my bed? You shouldn’t be in my bed!”

Riley figured what scenarios Jack’s mind was coming up with and started laughing,

“It’s nothing like that!” she paused to catch her breath between the hiccups of laughter, “You had nightmares... I tried to calm you, and you fell asleep on top of me… I didn’t want to wake you…”

“Nightmares?”

Riley nodded.

“You thought it was a good idea to climb into bed with an ex-military, ex-CIA, current-covert-ops agent suffering from flashbacks?” Jack’s eyes were as wide as they would get. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Hey… It calmed you down…”

“I know a guy who almost beat his girlfriend to death because she tried to wake him up!” Jack practically shouted at Riley, “And trust me! I can’t guarantee I’m more balanced than that!”

He rolled over and let out a low groan, courtesy his incredibly painful right wing.

Riley started to understand Jack’s concern, but wasn’t totally willing to admit to it yet.

“Jack, once you were awake… You were calm…”

“But you couldn’t be sure I was fully awake! I could be awake, but still be stuck in the sand dunes of Iraq in my head! Or almost freezing my left butt cheek off somewhere near Siberia! Or having a gun pointed at my head in Reno! I could be awake, and be anywhere but here, Riley!”

Riley looked at Jack for a long while, her eyes stumbling across the old remnants of serious injuries. Jack caught on to what she was doing, and covered himself with a his duvet. At least as best as he could manage with only his left arm.

“Did you…” Riley stalled, not sure if she wanted the answer. Not sure if Jack would give it to her. “Was this something you had…”

There was a long silence. They weren’t able to speak to each other, not able to look at each other…

“Back when you and mom…”

Jack nodded his head ever so slightly as he sat back up. “Yeah… Had flashbacks back then too. But they were always mild… The worst one back then involved the first time I saw someone with an amputated arm… He’d been to close to a mine when it blew, his lower arm hung in a tiny piece of flesh…”

Jack swallowed and looked at the ground.

“I’ve seen a lot since then…”

Riley closed her eyes, she couldn’t meet Jack’s…

“Been through a lot since then too…” the hint of despair in his voice made Riley’s heart bleed a little more.

“Have you talked to anyone?” Riley realized how stupid her question probably had sounded as soon as she spoke the words.

Jack rolled his eyes and tilted his head. “Do I look like I talk about touchy feely things?”

Riley chuckled and shook her head. “No, but you ought to…”

“I know…” Jack sighed, “I know, but I just can’t get myself to do it.”

“Not ever?”

“I’ve talked to Mac a few times… And I know I can always call him, you know,… If it feels like more than I can handle…”

Riley’s mind automatically reminded her of how many guns Jack had at hand, and a chill went down her spine.

“Have it been more than you could handle?”

“Found myself in the bottom of a bottle a few times… Nothing major…”

“Okay, but… Just so you know it… If you ever decide you need to talk to someone, I’m here too… Okay?”

Jack nodded, “Good… But I kinda want to get dressed now… So…”

“I’ll let you do that yourself…” Riley chuckled as she headed for the door to the hallway.

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When Jack entered the kitchen 20 minutes later, Riley was busy making breakfast.

“Still like pancakes?” she asked as she flipped another pancake in the frying pan.

“Hell yeah!” she could hear the smile in Jack’s voice, and she felt a little better. She stacked three pancakes on top of each other and placed bacon and scrambled eggs on the plate too…

She placed the plate in front of Jack and handed him a fork. “Guess you can’t handle a knife too… So… Improvise…”

“That’s Mac’s job… And you know it…”

Riley nodded.

“I should probably call him, hear how he’s doing…”

“Later… Breakfast first…”

Jack nodded and started stabbing the food with his fork. Enjoying the delicious American breakfast.


	9. Pain and pity party

“Heeey…” Mac knew the voice at the other end of the line. It was Jack’s ‘checking-up-on-you-voice’.

“Hey Jack…”

“So… How is my boy doing?”

“Fine, I’m fine…” Mac smirked.

“How’s the knee?”

“Swollen.” Mac revealed, deciding that he would have to calm his older friend. “Not too bad….”

“You sure? Cause you were pretty bad yesterday.”

“I’m fine, just have to be nice to my leg for a few days… No hard work or running… That kinda thing…”

Jack nodded on his side of the line.

“So, does it hurt?”

“Not that bad…” Mac answered.

“Well, my arm is hurting like crazy…” Jack baited, knowing that Mac wouldn’t admit to any pain, unless. “You saying we can’t have a pain-and-pity-party together later?”

“You want that?”

“Sure, can’t do much else anyway…” Jack sighed, “So? Come over, we order some pizza… Watch some 80’s action movie…”

“Okay, okay… You had me at pizza…” Mac smiled.

“Good. What time are you off work?”

“Errr…”

“Mac?”

“Patty ordered me to take a few days off…”

“Because of your leg?”

“Because of my leg…” Mac admitted.

“So it’s a little worse than what you’re letting on?”

“No. No no no…” Mac sputtered, “Just because I’m not allowed to do heavy labor or run.”

“And there’s no paperwork to do?”

“Not anything she needed me to do…”

Patty always had stuff for them to do… So Mac’s lie was easily detected by Jack. Who really didn’t bother to let Mac know, he knew.

“So, when you comin’ over?”

“Around 3 p.m. fine?”

“Sounds great!” Jack smiled. “If I’m asleep on the couch when you get here, just wake me… Okay?”

“Okay…”

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Mac almost wanted to cancel as he limped towards the front door of Jack’s apartment. Calling it limping was to be too kind, he was hobbling along on crutches. That was the truth.

And his knee ached. Like, really pounded against his skin. Throbbing. And shooting pains whenever he was unlucky enough to move the abused joint.

_Oh Lord, he shouldn’t have downplayed this to Jack... It would only come back to bite him…_

He hobbled past the door, through the hallway and into the living room. Jack wasn’t there… Mac sat down and hid the crutches under the couch. He lifted his sore leg up on the coffee table. Looked around and saw a pillow in the armchair. Picked it up and placed it under his leg.

He had only sat there a few minutes before he heard Jack’s familiar footsteps coming down the hall.

“Hey buddy!” Jack grinned as he came around the corner. His left arm gently guarding the sling holding his right arm.

“Hi Jay…” Mac smiled back.

“I thought I heard crutches…”

Mac winced, knowing he’d been busted.

“Hid them under the couch…”

“So it is crutch-worthy?”

“Yeah…” Mac looked down at his lap, “Best to stay completely off the leg for a few days…”

“Sucks, bro…”

Mac nodded, eyes still glued to his lap.

“So… Pizza… Papa John’s place down on forth?”

“Sure, they have good pizza there, right?”

“And they deliver…”

“Another great point…” Mac chuckled.

“Two large ones? 8 and 17?”

“Why do you even ask?”

“Just making sure you’re exactly as much of a habit-animal as me…”

“Haven’t we cleared that a couple of years ago?”

“You’re saying you don’t want me to check up on your preferences every three or four years?”

Mac laughed, “Okay, okay… Just order the damn pizzas…”

Jack smiled and fished the phone out of his pocket.

“What movie?”

“Rambo, Terminator, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon?”

“You want something with lots of blood and a whole lot of things that go kaboom, right?” Mac raised an eyebrow at Jack.

“Of course…”

“Okay… Let’s watch Rambo…”

Jack nodded in agreement as he started speaking with the guy taking his order at the pizza place.

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30 minutes later, someone knocked on Jack’s door. Jack went to answer, it was the pizza-man.

“Hi, that was two large pizzas, one 8 and one 17.” The pizza man smiled at him.

“Hi Billy, yeah! Could you carry them in to the living room for me?”

“Of course Mr. Dalton…” the pizza man smiled, trying to hide the fact that he knew exactly where the living room was, and that he knew that Mac would be in there. (And that he knew Mac would probably be in some kind of hurt of his own, since Jack with his sling answered the door. Okay this scene had happened too many times already…)

“Ahrrr… Just call me Jack… Think you’ve been here enough times during the years to skip formalities…”

Billy chuckled. “Okay Jack… I’ll try to skip them the next time…”

“Good.” Jack smirked, walking in front of Billy to their destination.

“What happened to your arm?”

“Stunt gone wrong… Supposed to jump down a tree, took a shit landing.” Jack lied easily, after too many concerned looks from the boy, who was now a college age man, he had dropped a hint that him and Mac were stunt doubles. It explained injuries and scars. And Billy believed it.

“Mac here too?”

“You know he is…”

“So, what’s his thing? Why wasn’t he answering the door?”

“Messed up his knee.”

“How?”

“Fight scene… Put weight on the wrong leg during a leg sweep…”

“Bet that hurt.”

“Yeah, I bet so too… But the kid never admits such things…”

Billy let out a short laugh, “I bet…”

Jack smiled and opened the door. Watching as Billy placed the pizza boxes on the table, nodding a greeting to Mac and Mac returning the nod.

Jack paid for the pizzas and gave Billy a good tip.

“Hope you both heal up pretty soon. I’m always scouting for you in movies.” Billy smiled on his way out.

“Thanks! And good luck buddy, movie magic is great these days… Hardly ever see myself in the movies, and I know where I’m at…” Jack smirked.

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“So, how are you really feeling Mac?” Jack asked between bites of pizza, “And know that I know that your leg hurts… Be honest.”

“Starting to consider a second trip to my doctor.” Mac rubbed the muscles in his thigh, “Knee feels like something’s wrong.”

“Serious wrong, or… Gonna walk it off in a couple of days wrong?”

“Don’t know… Hope it’s nothing…”

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst?”

Mac nodded. “How ‘bout you?”

“I’ll live…” Jack smiled, “Hurts like a bugger though…”

“I don’t doubt it…”

“You better not!” Jack warned, before his face lit up in a grin. “But what is it they say? _This too shall pass?_ ”

“Nerd…” Mac rolled his eyes.

Jack grinned even wider.

“You know? I think you’re the only one who has ever called me that…”

Mac chuckled. “Can’t see why…”

“So, you think Rambo will survive this time too?”

“Always does…” Mac smiled.

“Just like us…” Jack nodded and settled back.

“Let’s hope you’re psychic, alright?”

Jack nodded and chomped down on his slice of pizza.


	10. Sleep over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it’s been a while since I updated this story. Well, hope you enjoy…

It was getting late, and both Mac and Jack were getting tired. They had devoured the pizzas, one of Jack’s many attempts of fattening the kid up.

The sun had gone down a couple of hours ago. The fact that Mac had dozed off on the couch the past 10 minutes, told Jack that Mac was in no condition of driving home himself.

Jack looked over at the younger Phoenix agent. The blond had his head lolled to the side, with drool dampening the shoulder of his t-shirt.  His right leg was rested on the table, elevated by a thick pillow.

Jack got up, letting out a low moan as his injuries flared up. He used a couple of seconds to regain his balance, then he walked around the table to stand next to Mac’s feet.

He took in the kid’s position, and calculated that he would be in a world of pain when he woke up again. Then he looked down at his own right arm which was trapped in a sling. He wouldn’t be able to rearrange Mac, not without causing both of them a lot of pain.

So he made a decision to wake Mac up.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty?” he smirked as he patted Mac’s good knee. Waiting just long enough for Mac to wake up before he continued, “You’re going to have the mother of all stiff necks if you spend the night like that…”

“How long have I slept?” Mac wanted to know, rubbing some soreness out of his neck and shoulders.

“Roughly ten…” Jack informed, “Guest bed is as you left it… Better for you to sleep in a real bed…”

“I should probably go h…”

“NOT a chance!” Jack countered before Mac managed to finish his thought. “You’re staying here… I already texted Bozer…”

“And told him what?”

“Told him you had fallen asleep on my couch, and that I didn’t want you driving home on your own after that… Well, plus-minus a few spelling errors…”

“That dyslexia of yours kicking it up a notch?” Mac asked, personally not quite sure how Jack’s diagnosis worked. Other than the fact that Jack was a slow reader and a less than adequate speller, and that words sometimes got mixed up, if they looked or sounded the same. Or words in the middle of a sentence could just go missing. Sometimes it seemed to be worse than other times.

Jack shook his head, “Nah… More like touch screen vs. non-dominant hand results in a lot of miss-typing, and I’m kinda lazy and didn’t care to correct it…”

“Sounds about right…” Mac smirked back, sitting up straighter, “You know what?”

Jack shook his head, and waited for Mac to tell him.

“You’re going to have to move your ass if I’m going to get my crutches…”  Mac said as he placed his leg on the ground, “And I’m going to need those if I’m going anywhere….”

Jack nodded, and stepped away from the couch to let Mac fish out his crutches.

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“Man, you really don’t have to do this…” Mac sighed as he watched Jack carry as many pillows as he could get a hold of.

“Sure, but what if I want to?” Jack glared over at Mac as he placed the pillows at the foot end of the bed. “You can arrange them yourself... You should probably keep that leg elevated.”

“Look, I appreciate it… But this is overkill…” Mac gestured to the pillows. “You’re the one who is really hurt here…”

“No, I’m the one who’s actually been to the doctor with my injuries. And you said you were considering a trip to the doc…”

“ _Considering!_ ” Mac repeated, “I said I was considering!”

“Well, considering it’s you, that means that the phrase ‘considering going to the doctor’ means something like ‘I should have gone to the doctor a couple of days ago…’” Jack raised one eyebrow in a judging scowl.

Mac didn’t have a valid answer for that, so he just shrugged and sat down on the bed.

“You’re going to the doctor tomorrow.” Jack stated, leaving no room for Mac to wiggle around in.

“Okay, I’ll go get it looked at tomorrow…” Mac rolled his eyes, “And he’ll probably tell me I just stretched something…”

“Well, at least then we’ll know what it is. And that you haven’t F’ed up that leg of yours Cairo style…”

“It’s not that bad, Jack…” Mac tried to convince him, but his plan failed as he couldn’t retain a gasp as he tried to lift his leg up on the bed.

Jack chuckled lightly, “Yeah, I can see that…”

“Shut up…” Mac frowned, gently rubbing at is knee. “I already agreed to seeing the doc tomorrow…”

Jack nodded and stepped back, “Get some sleep, you look like you could use it…”

“Right back at you, big guy…” Mac smirked letting himself settle back on the bed.

“Well, ‘night!”

“Good night!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so another chapter down! Hope you liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you had fun reading reading the first chapter.


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